Jumbo Skyhawk

Review by JoshB

In the holy trinity of cheap Japanese toys, you have three manufacturers: Wing, Hero and Jam. We've had items from Wing and Hero before, now here is the first one I have gotten from Jam.

I am not disappointed.

Jumbo Skyhawk is a combiner made of three ships that combine into a robot. The ships just become a part for the robot - there are no individual robot modes.

The box is loud and amazing, with die-cut windows that show each of the three vehicles.

The illustrations on the front are equally amazing, and much better than their actual forms.

The back of the box features the instructions. This eliminates the need for a separate instruction sheet, which would add to the cost of this otherwise cheap toy.

This toy also features a header card that can be pulled out if the store wants to hang it on a peg instead of on a shelf.

The three vehicles are named Jet Hurricane, Mirage Tornado and Aero Typhoon.

Mirage Tornado

Mirage Tornado reminds me of an X-Wing crossed with a ship from a top down shooter. It features four chrome tipped missiles, moveable wings, and rolling landing gear. Some ships hold together better than others, this one is reasonably solid.

Jet Hurricane

Jet Hurricane again has rolling wheels, but in this case it sports two working missile launchers. It's an odd ship design with a stubby nose and three apollo rocket looking engine nozzles on the back. The chrome stickers on the wings are nice, but the paint over the chrome on the cockpit is kind of a mess.

Aero Typhoon

Aero Typhoon is the worst of the three, with a vehicle mode that does not stay together, and floppy wings that won't stay out. But it does sport a giant missile launcher on its back, so it has that going for it.

Aero Typhoon becomes the legs of Jumbo Skyhawk. There are a few parts in the leg that click into place for stability.

Mirage Tornado goes on next, with part of the cockpit snapping in between the legs.

Finally, Jet Hurricane forms the head. The chrome head pushes up from the center.

Don't forget the missiles!

The four chrome missiles combine with the disc shaped item from Mirage Tornado to form a shield.

On the other hand you can add the large cannon from Aero Typhoon. The missile actually shoots rather far.

The color and the build of the combined Jumbo Skyhawk remind me of Movie Version Optimus Prime. It's a bit busy, but its pretty solid.

Hopefully you are enjoying these oddities from my collection. Weird crap like this fascinates me. With so many Transformers characters being re-hashed over and over, I find these odd little cheap toys extremely refreshing.